The Afterlife
by Milley02
Summary: Found without memory by a young boy named Selim,she is named Franca,raised and taught magic by him.Years later,he has disappeared along with their teacher,and she sets out to find him-but now a Dark Guild is after her, what will she do? AU!ContainsGirlOC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm just getting back into the swing of things, so I rolled out this, just to see if people like it... also the story doesn't really have a name yet so the title there is only temporary...**

**Full Summary: Found without memory by a young boy named Selim, she is named Franca and raised and taught magic. Years later, he has disappeared along with their teacher, and Franca sets out to find him - but with a Dark Guild with a familiar face suddenly after her, what will she do? AU!ContainsOC**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T own anything to do with the Fairy Tail franchise mentioned in the story. And no Selim has nothing to do with the Fullmetal Alchemist anime/manga.**

**EDITED 10/9/2011: formatting added, changed some words and some spelling/grammer corrected. Also just realized that I was calling Levy 'Lavi' and changed it the moment I noticed... -_-"**

**EDIT 8/10/2011: I was reading it through again and saw some more mistakes - I rewrote it a little too. Nothing major, I was just fixing 'the flow' and MiraJane's character a bit - but it might be a good idea to read it again.  
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><p><em>Chapter 1 - Fairy Tail Meet Franca<em>

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><p>Falling through the air, kilometres above anything, with wind screaming past my ears, long brown hair flying in my face and arms pressed to my sides at the force, I let tears of frustration fall from eyes as I glared at up at the blue sky.<p>

That bitch!

I can't believe this is happening!

I was so_ close!_ So _damn close_ to finding _him!_

Then _she_ showed up and _ruined everything!_

No, no, no, _no, NO!_

It's just _not fair!_

It's not supposed to be like this. Not in this show. Not in Fairy Tail.

The good guys always win. _They always-_

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><p>Meanwhile, in Magnolia, Gray Fullbuster was walking down the street towards the Fairy Tail Mage Guild HQ, when he started to hear a whistling sound.<p>

Frowning, he looked up in search of the source, when all of a sudden, something slammed into him from above, creating a shallow rut in the street as they hit it below them.

Gray mumbled out a,"what the-?", before he realized there was an unconscious girl laying in his lap and they were sitting a pretty big hole - right in the middle of the street.

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><p>It was noisy by the time I regained consciousness, my eyelids were still closed and I remained still as I tried to figure out where the hell I was now.<p>

The texture of the ground below me didn't feel like earth, it felt like material... and a mattress? I must be in someone's house.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came to forefront of the arguing.

"Who is she, Gray?".

"I don't know! Like I said already! She just dropped out of the damn sky, okay?".

_Oh shit..._ is it possible that I landed right in front of the one guild I was trying to avoid all these years?

I decided to risk it and open my eyes.

_Yep._

There, standing at the end of the bed I was laying on and arguing, was Erza Scarlet and Gray Fullbuster.

You should note that there was someone else there, but my brain's recognition function stopped working after I spotted the blue-haired ice-make mage...

... who was currently not wearing a shirt for some reason.

"Are you feeling better now?", came MiraJane's voice from my left. She must've been the other person. And from looks of things, she's the devil S-class mage at the moment.

I managed to tear my gaze away from the shirtless Gray (a miracle in itself) and faced her enough with enough brain power left to say,"huh?".

"Gray brought you inside after your... fall", Erza put in.

"Yeah - after you almost tore my ear off", Gray mumbled, massaging a red ear.

_~Flashback~_

_As Gray sat there in shock, white-haired MiraJane happened by Gray pulling the girl that literally landed in his lap out of the hole._

_"Gray! What the hell are you doing to that girl?", she growled, disturbed._

_"Nu-, nu-, nothing!", Gray stuttered, dropping her._

_"Gray Fullbuster!", bellowed Erza Scarlet from behind him, the demonic aura she was exuding darkening the whole street._

_"OWW!"._

_~Flashback End~_

"Do you remember anything? Like your name or something?", MiraJane asked, grudgingly helping me sit up and handing me a glass of water which I accepted gratefully. Yep, this is weird.

Though mostly because she's still in the rebel-bitch phase.

Then the door slammed open without warning, making me choke.

"Yeah, like why you were fallin' from the sky in the first place?", asked Natsu Dragneel.

Erza had to give me a good 'pat' on the back before I was able to breathe again, and then I gave them the only answer I had.

"My name's Franca - and if you really need to know, I was fighting off some mages from a dark guild".

"_What?_", exclaimed half the room.

"Why were they after you?", Erza asked.

"No idea. One minute, I was following up on a lead to this abandoned Council fortress outside of the town, and the next, I was ambushed", I explained,"they just came out of nowhere...".

"Do you know which dark guild?", MiraJane asked.

"Yeah, it was Shinobi", I replied, nodding, a grim look on my face.

"Shinobi? The ninja guild...?", Erza started, mumbling to herself.

"I recognized their leader", I bit out,"her name's Carmen and although she's young, she's a formidable mage. A-Class, I think - she's the one that sent me flying".

"How do you know her?", Gray asked.

"I knew her when she was younger...", I replied, evasively,"I guess you could say we had the same teacher - but when Selim-ni-san's dad, who was our sensei, disappeared... she only really traveled with us for a little while after that, before running off".

"Who's 'Selim-ni-san'?", Mirajane asked.

"He's technically my senpai, but he's more like a big brother then anything else. I mean, we're not actually related, but I started calling him that when I was little just to annoy him, and after a while... it just kinda stuck...", I replied, frowning as my gaze wandered to the open window.

"And where is this Selim now?", Gray asked.

"Missing", I explained, my eyes snapping over to him,"has been for a couple of years now. The lead I was following said that he was going to be, or had been, there - why, I don't know. But I don't care about that, I not angry about it anymore. I just want to find him".

_He's all I have left in this world..._

The room was silent for a moment as the people there processed what I'd said.

_I don't have time for this, I have to find Selim._

With my plan decided, I ignored the pain I felt all over my body, and got up, shoving my feet into my boots and grabbing my coat by the door before anyone could stop me.

"Where are you going?", Gray asked - and if it had been anyone else who'd asked, I would've ignored them.

"To find him", I said, and then I ran out the door, across the landing and down the staircase before they could stop me, all the while hearing MiraJane's angry protests.

I made it to the main bar room where everyone else was before they caught up and Natsu demanded to know what the hell was going on.

That was when Makarov intervened.

"Oh, you must be the guest!", he chuckled, a mug of beer in his hand.

I stopped and turned to face him - Makarov was the Fairy Tail guild master, a Wizard-Saint, and an honorable mage. I respected him too much to just ignore him.

"Actually, I was just leaving", I informed him,"thank you for your hospitality, sir", then I turned to leave.

"You're not going anywhere with those injuries". I froze at the deeply serious tone of his voice.

_Of all times...!_

"Pardon, sir? What injuries do you speak of?", I asked Makarov, not turning back to look at him as I noticed that the normally rowdy bar had suddenly become silent.

"The ones that are barely allowing you to move", he responded.

I looked down angrily at my boots for a moment, then whirled around to face him again, fists clenched and short nails digging into my palms.

"_And so what if they are?_", I growled,"I'm _not_ going to lose him again!". I froze, my stance stiff in shock as I realized what I'd just said.

But that didn't stop my voice having a mind of it's own again.

"Selim's my brother! Even if there's just the smallest chance that I'll find him there, I've got to take it! He's all I've got left, damn it!".

Suddenly, Erza was standing beside me with a reassuring hand on my shoulder,"don't worry, we will find him", she said as I stared up at her with wide, shocked eyes.

"Wha-", was all I could say, before I blacked out.

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><p>A girl with light blue hair, wearing an orange dress and an orange headband was sitting at the desk in the corner of the room intently reading a book about runes, but it didn't take long for her to notice I'd woken up.<p>

"How are you feeling?", she asked, looking worried,"I saw Erza hit you pretty hard - we thought you weren't gonna wake until at least tomorrow night".

"Yeah, well, I've always been able to shake off stuff like this pretty easy", I replied, stretching my arms up over my head,"it's kind of a requirement for my magic type to have a strong constitution...". An awkward silence set in.

"Soooo, your name's Franca, right?", she asked, and I nodded,"my name's Levy - it's nice to meet you!", Levy said, smiling brightly.

There was a knock on the door."Come in", Levy said and a girl the looked a lot like a young MiraJane edged her way into the room with a tray of food and a jug of water on it.

"Lisanna! Let me give you a hand!", Levy blanched, getting up quickly to assist the girl.

... Lisanna? I suddenly felt really sad.

_Damn it, this is reason I avoided this Guild all this time! They're so damn distracting!_

They set down the stuff on the table,"nee-san said you might be hungry, so I brought you something", she said, smiling.

"... thanks", I replied, pulling out a pouch from my pocket as Lisanna poured me a glass of water.

"What's that?", Levy asked.

I looked over at her, wondering if I should tell her - _no, Franca! That would WAY over complicate things!_

"Medicine", I said, then sprinkled some of the brown powder into the glass, waiting until it turned the colour of earth before I drank the whole glass.

Lisanna raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but didn't say anything as I started eating the loaf of bread.

When I was finished, I brushed clean my hands of crumbs,"okay, well thanks for your hospitality and all, but I really have to be going to find my brother now", I replied, getting up slowly from the bed.

"What? You're leaving?", Levy asked, getting up from her seat, a panicked look on her face,"but you can't! Erza, Gray and Natsu, have already left!".

I stopped. _They, what?_

"_Levy!_", Lisanna admonished in a hushed whisper,"_we weren't supposed to tell her that!_".

I sat back down on side of the bed facing the window, away from them,"oh...".

I could feel their eyes watching my back in concern, then,"_um,_ do you guys have a bathroom?".

"... yeah, sure. There's one down the hall, I'll show you", Levy offered and we left the room, walking down the hall.

As we went, I saw Lisanna leave the room with the tray in her hand out of the corner of my eye.

_Good, that means I can go back for my stuff._

"I'll be right here if you need anything", Levy said, and I nodded my thanks before closing the door behind me.

The bathroom was nice, tiled floors and a few stalls, sinks, mirrors and a small window at the far end, high near the ceiling - but that's okay, I won't be using the window anyway.

For the first time in a while, I took a look at myself in one of the mirrors closest to the window.

Staring back at me was a girl who looked about thirteen, maybe fourteen, with round cheeks, a light speckling of freckles, button nose and lips that if they weren't chapped would've look nice. She had nice bronze eyes and messy long dark brown hair that fell down past her shoulders and wore a white singlet tank top and very short white shorts.

Ignoring the fact that I was wearing different pants from before, I washed my hands and ran my wet fingers through my hair before tying it back into a ponytail with a hair tie that was on my wrist, then I walked over to the wall beneath the window and placed the palm of my hand on the cool earth.

_I'm lucky this wall isn't made of wood or something..._

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><p>Outside the bathroom, Levy was starting to get bored - Franca had been in there a while - then she remembered the book she left in the room. So she quickly walked down the hall and went into the room to grab her book.<p>

Smiling, she was about to go back to the bathroom door - when she noticed all Franca's stuff was gone. Her smile faded when she noticed the piece of paper sitting next her book.

_Levy,_

_Thank you for the hospitality, but I really had to leave. I know you all mean well and I'm sorry I left without saying anything - but I don't think your friends realize what they're getting themselves into by involving themselves in my life._

_Thank you for everything, and please apologize to MiraJane and Lisanna for me._

_From,_  
><em>Franca Erde<em>

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><p><em>End Chapter<em>

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><p><strong>So? What do you think? Is it worth pursuing? Please review to tell me!<strong>

**Signed,**  
><strong>Milley02<strong>


	2. Unwanted Assistance

**A/N: Oh-kay! This took a little longer then I thought it would... university is keeping my pretty busy lately.**

**Anyway, so this chapter is more of an explaining thing and a little traveling - basically it should help to clear some of the doubts any readers have been having about what the hell kind of story this is. Other then that though, nothing much really happens... (sorry!), but that just means things will be picking up soon - cause the magic fighting's starting!**

**Also, future chapters will be longer - longer then the first chapter kind of long anyway.**

**Oh! And a big thanks goes out to aphrodite931 for reviewing!**

**Full Summary: Found without memory by a young boy named Selim, she is named Franca and raised and taught magic. Years later, he has disappeared along with their teacher, and Franca sets out to find him - but with a Dark Guild with a familiar face suddenly after her, what will she do? AU!ContainsOC**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T own anything to do with the Fairy Tail franchise mentioned in the story. And no Selim has nothing to do with the Fullmetal Alchemist anime/manga.**

**EDIT 8/10/2011: I did a lot of rewriting, editing and formatting in this chapter - so you should probably read this one again too...  
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><p><em>Chapter 2 - Unwanted Assistance<em>

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><p>The sun was already setting as I sat down in the train compartment, clothed in my original green camouflage three-quarter length cargo pants with stitches all over them - the largest one a pink flower stitched over the right knee - and a simple waist-length black jacket over my white tank top. I was also wearing two gold rings with jade gems, one on an index finger of either of my hands, and greek-style sandals with thinned soles.<p>

As the train pulled out of Magnolia station, I took out a small pouch of brown-coloured candy to chew on for the half hour train ride from one of the many pockets - if I was lucky, I could get there before they even encountered Shinobi and maybe even avoid them getting further involved.

If not, well... I'd figure that out then.

... now I guess I'd better explain how I got to here right?

That's actually a very long story - too long for a half-hour train ride - but I guess the beginning will suffice for now. Also, I'm not very good with past stories, or subtlety either - so I'll be blunt.

Believe it or not, I don't belong here. As in I'm not 'of this world' - as in I'm from another dimension, kind of thing.

Now before you say anything! I know that this may seem like some crazy's story or something - but it's not!

I died in my own world, where all this... where Fairy Tail was supposed to be just that. A fairy tale, a story. Complete fiction...

Then I was-, well I guess the only way to really explain it would be that I was reborn - right from the baby phase - into this world. Into Fiore, Earthland.

_Yep, I was reborn into a land with real magic, wizards, guilds and dragons._

And from what little I do remember, I was fully conscious and aware of everything going on around me.

You see, during my childhood here - about around three-years-old, I think - I was in some kind of disaster, and the entire village I had been living in (in the middle of a desert), including it's people and my family here, was destroyed by something.

Now I don't remember what did it exactly (Selim concluded it was from trauma), or much of anything from before that - except a few patchy memories here and there of my childhood here, and you know, the part where I lived another life, in another world, and that there, this world was fiction - so I can't tell you much about that.

But I think the _craziest_, most _frustrating_ part about all this - is that's all I could remember. I remembered most of the stuff I knew about the Fairy Tail story and it's characters, etc. - but everything else... it was just gone.

I mean I know I had a brother and a sister (one younger, the other older), friends, a mum, a dad, aunts, uncles, cousins... but I don't know anything else about them except for the feelings I felt while around them - you know, all that family-type stuff.

But I'd not only lost them in a way I could never see them again - I couldn't remember their faces or their names, either.

_Hell, I couldn't even remember my own name._

I was a three-year-old child with the absolutely terrorized mentality of a 17-year-old girl, whose only knowledge was that of a story she heard a few times and the feelings of an unreachable life - one forcibly lost and forgotten.

So, naturally, after I was shaken into consciousness by the one who had dug me out of the rubble, I grabbed onto the nearest living thing I could find and cried as I clung on for dear life.

... and that was how I met a five-year-old Selim-ni-san and his father, Huan-sensei.

As a hysterical, blubbering little orphan with a serious case of amnesia and dimensional displacement syndrome - well, not that I told them that last bit.

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><p>It was past dark by the time the train arrived, but the town was still alight with people.<p>

Trying not to get distracted, I started marching down the main street like someone on a mission, when a voice called out to me.

"Franca-san! Franca, dear!", immediately I turned to see a middle-aged woman with dark hair calling out as she came towards me wearing an apron and carrying my bag.

"Maria-san!", I replied, a smile working it's way onto my face as I recognized the owner of the town's inn and my beloved, battered brown rucksack with a dozen or so metal badges pinned to it.

I clutched the bag in a hug, repeatedly murmuring 'sorry' for leaving it behind as Maria laughed at my antics.

Then, remembering what I was supposed to be doing, I asked her if she'd seen some new people in town recently, asking about me - _it was a small enough town, one where everyone knew each other, so she might've noticed something._

She said there was a group of three people with red, blue and pink hair asking around in the bar of her inn just this afternoon.

_That has to be them!_

She also told me how they kept arguing with each other and that the blue-haired one kept randomly taking off his shirt.

I deadpanned._ Yeah, it was definitely them._

"Do you know where they are now?", I asked.

"I overheard one of the old codgers telling them how to get to the ruins outside of town - but that was several hours ago-".

"-thanks, Maria-san!", I interrupted, slinging the rucksack over my shoulder as I started running off.

"Eh-? B-, be careful, dear!".

"I will, Maria-san!", I called, waving over my shoulder,"thanks again!".

_I have to get there **now!**_

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><p>With the full moon hiding behind the clouds, it was so dark that it was hard to see as I ran along the road, away from the light of the town. Trees lined the edges of the path and I could hear russelling noises as I ran.<p>

_I'm being followed._

Suddenly, six dark-clad figures jumped down in front of me.

"_Stop right there!_", one called as I skidded to a stop.

"The Lady said you can't get through!".

"Oh yeah?", I snapped, glaring at them,"just watch me!".

I threw the palms of my hands to the ground, a magic circle the colour of sparkling jade flashing out beneath me, the gems on my rings glowing, before spikes of earth shot up from the ground, going straight at the ninja.

As they were distracted, I quickly drew runes in the ground before putting my palms to the earth again.

The hastily drawn sigils lit up with the same green light, forming a square around them as the spikes suddenly seemed to take on a life of their own and began thrashing about like tentacles, wrapping around the assailants and enabling me to go on without pursuers.

_They're already here!** Not good!**_

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><p>As I approached the ruins, I could hear the sounds of fighting - I grimaced, trying to ignore the growing pain in my legs, and ran faster.<p>

"_Karyuu no-!_". Natsu.

"_Ex-quip!_". Erza.

"_Ice-make!_". Gray.

I ran into the clearing surrounding the fortress ruins, colourful sparks of magic from the fight lighting up the night from over the stone walls.

I remember there being a gap in the defenses on the east side... _if I could just make it around- damn it! They caught up faster then I thought!_

It was the ninja from earlier - and they were not alone.

I was surrounded and _so_ out-numbered.

Slowly, I started backing up towards the wall behind me until I hit it.

Then I smirked as an idea occurred to me.

Quickly, I slammed my hands down onto the ground again and they tensed, expecting an attack - but instead, as the jade magic circle spun around me on the ground, and column of earth shot me up into the sky, only stopping when I got level with the top of the wall.

I jumped off, running to the edge of the inner wall - to see something absolutely insane.

Natsu and Gray were fighting off most of an _entire battalion_ of shinobi - while Erza was fighting both the rest of them and Carmen... _by herself!_

I mean, I know Fairy Tail guild members like these three are crazy powerful and all -_** but come on!**_

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><p><em>End Chapter<em>

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><p><em>~Sneak Preview~<em>

_"Thanks, Maria-san", I said as she handed me a key to baths as we stood in the doorway of our room in Maria's inn._

_"It's no problem, dear", she replied,"goodnight"._

_"'Night", I replied, closing the door, then I turned to walk over to my bag that was sitting on the bed and starting rummaging through it, looking for one of my extra bags of candy - the stress was starting to get to me, and when it did, I could eat several bags of the stuff._

_Note to self; remember to go to Midas Town to replenish candy supplies._

_"So! Now are you gonna tell us what the hell you did to these guys?", Natsu complained from his seat on the window sill._

_"Ay! We can help, you know!", Happy pipped up. A curious little thing - blue, talking and flying cat that he was._

_"Yeah, they seem to really have it out for you", Gray added, and I could see them all watching me carefully from the corner of my eyes._

_I stared down at my hand that held the candy bag in my hand, silent, as what felt like a million thoughts a minute suddenly ran through my head as the fight in the ruins played back in my head._

_Why?_

_Why is he doing this?_

_I suddenly felt sick._

_My appetite lost, I dropped the candy bag back into my bag, and closed the drawstring, tying it up in a knot as I slumped down onto the bed._

_I sighed, long and deep, sitting on the edge of the bed._

_If they were going to help - and they obviously weren't taking no for an answer - then I'd have to explain a few things-, things about a life spent traveling all of Fiore looking for someone who obviously doesn't want to be found and making some serious efforts to make sure of it._

_I turned to face the three. Natsu still sitting on the window sill with Happy next to him, Gray on the chair by the desk and Erza on the other bed in the room, and I started._

_"I think to answer that question... you first need to know a few things about me"._

_~End Sneak Preview~_

**Please remember to story alert/fav, author alert/fav, and/or review!**

**I'm seeing hundreds of hits every month on the traffic stats for all my stories, but few readers actually leave reviews - even if it's just that you like it (or don't). Please take those extra couple of minutes to type something!**

**More reviews motivate me to write faster... and actually post chapters instead of 'stock piling them' as my friends call it... -_-"**

**OH! And for any The Other Girl readers, reading this - I HAVEN'T ABANDONNED IT and nor is it on hiatus! I'm just in a little situation concerning that story right now, but depending on if I get my assignment handed in on time, I'll probably have a new chapter posted sometime soon. And I'm making it extra long because I took ages...**

**C ya,**  
><strong>Milley02<strong>


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